Realising the fact that Indian outbound tourism has consistently been growing, Tourism Flanders (Belgium) has accelerated its marketing efforts in India to draw more Indian tourists. A senior delegation led by Geert Bourgeois, Vice-Minister-President of the Flemish Government, Flemish Minister for Administrative Affairs, Local and Provincial Government, Civic Integration, Tourism and the Vlaamse Rand, recently visited India to interact with the key stakeholders of Indian travel and tourism fraternity. The objective was to raise the awareness about Flanders’ tourism products in the Indian market. “Since our foray into the Indian market in 2008, we have witnessed an annual average growth of 25 per cent. In 2011, we received 43,000 Indian visitors resulting in over 90,000 room nights,” Bourgeois said.
The Minister said that Tourism Flanders will promote four important cities of the region in the Indian market – Brussels, Antwerp, Bruges and Ghent. The tourism board is currently focusing on Delhi and Mumbai markets and trying to expand its reach to cities like Bengaluru, Kolkata and Ahmedabad, he added